From today’s Sheboygan Press:

Richard Shea, president of the International Federation of Competitive Eating, said he was surprised when Johnsonville told the group — about six months ago — that the event would not continue. It has been part of the Sheboygan Jaycees-sponsored event each of the last two years.

“We were surprised and we were saddened,” Shea said. “We would have loved to have been there.”

PermalinkComments (6)

The Worcester Telegram has an article about fantasy competitive eating which mentions Liz K’s league:

So whether or not this is a real sport, whether or not its participants are athletes is moot, there’s still enjoyment to be had from watching these accomplishments and at least some group out there is doing it, even if with the less than memorable Web site address of http://www.urbanhonking.com/truefan/archives/2007/01/fantasy_eating.html.

The setup is simple, with points awarded for competing in events, setting records and personal bests, while points are deducted for the dreaded “reversal of fortune” and finishing outside the top 10 in events.

PermalinkComments (5)

Richard Sandomir, the television sports columnist for the New York Times, wrote about competitive eating on television. Cable network deals and ratings are discussed at the end of the column:

ESPN started carrying the Nathan’s event in 2004, and it drew 926,000 viewers. In 2005, it dipped to 860,000, but it leaped to 1.46 million last year, a level it probably reached on Wednesday.

“We’ve done other competitive eating contests,” said David Berson, an ESPN executive vice president. “But we focus on the hot dog. It’s the marquee event.”

But with ESPN’s deal now expired, Spike wants to take gluttony (not entirely a male pursuit, as the M.L.E. star Sonya Thomas shows) to its male-focused network as a companion to its Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise. Spike has shown one Major League Eating event (the St. Patrick’s Day corned beef and cabbage, jalapeños and green doughnuts show from Savannah, Ga., attracted 739,000 viewers) and is scheduled to carry three more.

PermalinkComments

(from Paul Barlow) Video of Tim Janus on the Today Show this morning to promote Sunday’s “Science of Speed Eating” documentary on the National Geographic channel is available. Tim did a one minute donut eating exhibition during his appearance.

PermalinkComments (4)

Will Leitch, the blogger for Deadspin, has posted a long report from the Nathan’s finals. Leitch accepted a press pass for the first time. There is also a gallery, which includes a picture of Don Lerman with a mystery friend.

PermalinkComments

Michael David Smith of AOL Fanhouse interviewed Richard Shea this morning:

International Federation of Competitive Eating rules are clear about reversals: Vomiting equals disqualification. Kobayashi’s official total should have been zero.

But it wasn’t. It was 63. Why? I put that question to Major League Eating President Richard Shea in a telephone interview this morning, and he told me this:

“The judges’ ruling was that the reversal occurred after the buzzer. They also didn’t characterize it as a full reversal because it didn’t hit the table.”

PermalinkComments (17)

The excising of Kobayashi’s reversal from Nathan’s reruns noticed by MegaMunch was also commented on by the hosts of ESPN radio’s morning show according to Michael David Smith on AOL FanHouse

“There was an edict last night to stop showing the regurgitation,” said Gottlieb, filling in for Mike Greenberg on Mike and Mike in the Morning.

Co-host Mike Golic asked, “We can’t show that?” and Gottlieb replied, “We can’t show the puke.”

Golic said, “I’ve got an issue with that.” So do I. Vomiting is a part of competitive eating just as concussions are a part of football, and ESPN shouldn’t sugarcoat the truth.

PermalinkComments (2)

Kobayashi has the following quote in today’s New York Times wrap-up of Nathan’s contest.

Mr. Kobayashi bowed and was humble in defeat. But he also pointed straight at Mr. Chestnut and yelled, “I will definitely beat him next year.”

It is not clear how Kobayashi will gain entry into the 2008 finals since he no longer receives a bye as defending champion and no qualifier was held in Tokyo this year.

Other post contest links
SJ Mercury article about Joey Chestnut’s victory – Joey will attend Kobayashi’s P’Zone exhibition next week.
Joey Chestnut podcast on KCBS
Erik Denmark article from the Seattle Times
WNBC article and raw video
Video clip of Kobayashi’s reversal from theblogofhilarity (via thebiglead.com)
audience video showing what was going on during the last commercial break from cyber fyber
news video from News 12 Brooklyn
Gothamist blog entry
Observations from Megamunch about ESPN censorship – the reversal was not mentioned on SportsCenter either
Commentary from Wing Tut

PermalinkComments (3)

Mike Downey of the Chicago Tribune offers a negative review of Nathan’s hot dog eating contest in his latest column

I wish Kobayashi, Chestnut or one of these guys would explode like that gastronome from Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life” who eats one morsel too many.

PermalinkComments (10)

A video starting with five minutes remaining in the Nathan’s finals and continuing until the end of the broadcast can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V-2NKUlzns Kobayashi appears to have a minor reversal with about 40 seconds left.

Yahoo has local news video clips from WCBS (from the Hangman)

The Hangman also has some video captures on his website.

(From Billy of supersizedmeals) news.com.au has a picture of Kobayashi’s reversal. Someone has said that Kobayashi should not have been DQed because he caught all the food before it hit the floor or table, but the picture makes clear that some material escaped.

PermalinkComments

(From Dave Shoffner) Nathan’s finals reruns (all times eastern)

7/4 11pm ESPN2
7/5 2:30am ESPN2
7/5 7pm ESPN2
7/6 8pm ESPN
7/8 1am ESPN2
7/8 5pm ESPN
7/12 2pm ESPN

PermalinkComments (10)

Nathan’s Finals results

1. Joey Chestnut 66 HDB (listed at 63 when contest ended), $10000
2. Takeru Kobayashi 63 HDB (appeared to have a reversal near contest end), $5000
3. Pat Bertoletti 49 HDB, $2500
4. Tim “Eater X” Janus 43.5 HDB, $1500
5. Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas: 39 HDB (new female record, breaks 37 HDB plateau), $1000
6. Bob Shoudt 35 HDB
6. Chip Simpson 35 HDB
8. Rich LeFevre 31 HDB
9. Hall Hunt: 29 HDB
10. Juliet Lee 26 HDB (finals record for rookie female)
11. Dale Boone 25 HDB
12. Pat Philbin 24 HDB
13. Crazy Legs Conti 23.5 HDB
14. Erik “the Red” Denmark 23 HDB
15. Tim Brown 22.5 HDB
16. Arturo Rios, Jr. 21 HDB
16. Allen “Shredder” Goldstein 21 HDB

update Full results are available on IFOCE. The IFOCE report mentions neither Kobayashi’s possible reversal nor Joey’s “phantom” extra 3 HDB. The reported attendance is 50,000.

NYTimes.com has an article mentioning the post contest jump in Joey Chestnut’s result. You would think that scraps would result in a deduction and not an increment:

After both men appeared to finish with 63 hot dogs eaten, the judges spent several minutes in a somewhat bizarre recount. To determine a winner, the judges counted the scraps left on the plates.

The liveblog of the telecast follows after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »

PermalinkComments (87)

Will Leitch, the main writer for the sports/athlete gossip blog Deadspin, will attend the Nathan’s finals and post about the contest on Thursday.

In the comments, someone says that the Coors ad starring Kobayashi is now being televised.

While watching the Sopranos edit on A&E last nite, lo and behold–right in the middle of the show, what pops up but a Coors Light commercial starring none other than Kobayashi himself!

I view this as a good omen to his continued mastery of the Nathan’s contest–go, Tsunami, go!

PermalinkComments

(From Jason Fagone & megamunch) Jason Fagone wrote an article about the health issues facing competitive eaters for slate.com.

The apparent frivolity of competitive eating has always colored our response to its bad health outcomes. An eating injury or death has never seemed tragic or heroic, just … sad. Kobayashi’s injury ought to change that. It deserves to move competitive eating past the joke/jeremiad dichotomy and into the framework of actual sport—with all of sport’s narrative dignity, its metaphorical richness, and, most importantly, its empathy for the human bodies it churns through and spits out. The squeak of the Tsunami’s jaw grinding against its joint isn’t the sound of a freak meeting his end. It’s the sound of his sport limping, heavy-gutted and mumble-mouthed, into a new Golden Age.

PermalinkComments (6)

WCBS has an article and video of today’s weigh in for the Nathan’s finals. Kobayashi says that he is still undecided on whether he will compete tomorrow.

amNY also has an article about the weigh in which says that 17 eaters will compete, so Kobayashi will be the eater from outside the United States present.

update
NY1 has an article and video of the weigh in
Gothamist has a blog entry containing a picture of Kobayashi opening his mouth rather widely
The NY Times blog has an entry describing Dale Boone’s current project:

Dale Boone said he spends several months a year in India, where he is filming “House of Brahmins,” a romantic comedy about an ethnically mismatched couple. “America guy comes to India, runs into a Brahmin girl,” Mr. Boone explained. “You want both sides to laugh at the same time. It’s a very hard thing to do.”

update #2
Brian Seiken has a video of the entire weigh in
MSNBC has an AP article and Darren Rovell video
myfoxNY has an article with four videos and a slideshow
FoxSports has a column (from MegaMunch)

PermalinkComments (14)

(From Kelly Livingston) Steakbellie reports that the IFOCE purchased a bike for his son, Charlie Livingston, to replace a bike stolen on the last day of school:

What had happened, was that one of the two brothers that run the IFOCE, heard about the bike being stolen, and felt that he was in a position to help. More than just having empathy, he was called to action, and put together a fund in which several of the IFOCE organization staff, and some of the Eaters themselves donated cash, which the organization matched. The whole process and check was completed in a day.

PermalinkComments (13)

CNNMoney.com has an article analyzing Nathan’s Famous as an investment:

The hot dog eating contest has helped make Nathan’s a popular brand. But many investors may be surprised to know that the franchise fast food chain company is a publicly traded company and its stock has been on a roll.

Shares of the hot dog seller are up 22 percent this year, and last month the company reported stellar results for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended in March.

The company said fourth-quarter earnings soared 97 percent from a year ago and revenue jumped 12 percent.

There is also a direct link to last week’s Jeanne Moos segment about Kobayashi’s condition.

PermalinkComments

SPTimes.com has an article about Sunday’s “Science of Speed Eating” documentary.

The second half of the show follows gastroenterologist Dr. David Metz as he tries to figure out if there’s anything qualitatively different about how competitive eaters digest. To this end, Janus eats 36 hot dogs and radioactive scrambled eggs with a sidecar of barium smoothie.

The conclusion? Competitive eaters seem to relax their muscles in such a way that postpones peristalsis (waves of muscular contraction in the stomach that break down food into smaller pieces). Their stomachs become, as Dr. Metz notes, “giant flaccid bags,” four times their normal size. Their stomachs remain inert, their brains don’t experience satiation, and the eating machines keep eating.

PermalinkComments (3)

Brian Seiken has started an audio podcast which can be listened to at http://hometown.aol.com/beautifulbrian43/podcast.html Brian discusses Arturo Rios’ entry into the Civil Service qualifier and other current issues in the debut episode.

PermalinkComments (1)

A press release announces that Heinz is now the official ketchup of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. Investor Nelson Peltz, who now holds a seat on the Heinz board, was willing to pay $200,000 in 2006 to cosponsor the contest.

update post-gazette.com has an article about the sponsorship

PermalinkComments

(From Dan Cesareo) Two new trailers from the “Science of Speed Eating” documetary, which will be televised on the National Geographic channel on Sunday, are embedded in a blog entry on the National Geographic website. One of the trailers introduces Sonya Thomas. Sonya will apparently attempt to eat 18 pounds of food in the program.

PermalinkComments (8)

Liz announces that she has made a new batch of buttons to represent the competitive eating fantasy teams along with some other eating themed buttons.

In other Liz news, her application to be a bunnette has been denied as Nathan’s has decided to go with professional models. If all video submitters were rejected, they definitely have reason to be upset and I would not consider that the ideal way to treat people who are some of the IFOCE’s biggest supporters.

PermalinkComments (12)

I have been unable to find any non-IFOCE information on the internet about P. Theyagarjan, a 7’8″ chicken tiki masala and hot dog eating contest winner from India, who IFOCE has invited to compete in the Nathan’s finals.

Googling “Theyagarjan” does not bring up any information from before the IFOCE announcement, nor does Theyagarjan appear in this list of the tallest Indians or this very thorough Japanese list of the world’s tallest men.

The July 4 contest may not provide confirmation of Theyagarjan’s existence according to this Gersh Kuntzman article:

In an unrelated injury story, the 7-foot-6 Indian giant, P. Theyagarjan, the chicken tika-masala-eating champion, has fallen and injured his foot.

“It really is true what they say: the bigger they are, the harder they fall,” Shea said. “He’s also day-to-day.”

PermalinkComments (3)

A commercial for paper plates starring Sonya Thomas can be viewed at http://youtube.com/watch?v=RQQ37rlvMV4 In the commercial, Sonya compares Harris-Teeter (a southern supermarket chain) house brand paper plates with name brand paper plates.

In other Sonya Thomas news, sonyatheblackwidow.com has brought up a blank page for the past two days.

PermalinkComments (2)

From a Paul Barlow, Jr. email:

I am finalizing my second semi-annual “Best Dressed Active Eaters of 2007” list…I need input from all sources, eaters-fans-Paris Hilton, etc….

The list will come out on my next Myspace blog the week after July 4th – Don Lerman, the best-dressed legend of all time, has already given me some feedback. The Nathan’s finals will be a great opportunity for all entered to make that last “push” for Best Dressed greatness!!

Judging based on hats, strange clothing, face paint, entrances, props, hair…..and anything else that may allow me to be highly ranked in my own list!! The eaters need not be ranked – last year some one-hit, but well-dressed wonders made the list (remember “The Pope”?)

Thanks in advance for your help – Super Paul Bonebreaker Bigmouth Barlow

Super Paul has also posted his Nathan’s predictions in his myspace blog

PermalinkComments